PHOENIX — "Hey!" A caddie yells from across the parking lot. "You're my lord and savior man!"
The caddie wraps Mike Dreckman in a bear hug before heading toward Mountain Shadows golf course.
Dreckman walks the other way -- he's got a charity golf tournament tournament to play. This kind of encounter happens now, but it's not because of Dreckman's golf game. His legendary status came from another sport... Baseball.
"One of my friends texted me while I was at the game and he says, dude you're all over the TV," Dreckman said.
Mike Dreckman is the subject of a now-famous photo taken during Game 7 of the NLCS in Philadelphia.
It shows a sea of Phillies fans, cheering, pointing, waving rally towels, staring at the field. And dead center of the photo is Mike Dreckman, staring down the camera, stretching out a throwback purple and teal Diamondbacks jersey. A tuna among the sharks.
"Absolutely surrounded by Phillies fans," Dreckman said.
When the cameras found him, they never lost him again. he appeared every so often on the television broadcast, a lone Diamondbacks fan in a sea of red. When the photo made it to social media, it took off, especially when it came out that his jersey was an original...with a little magic still on it.
Dreckman said he bought the jersey during the Diamondbacks' legendary 2001 World Series season. He wore it on special occasions... And never, ever washed it.
Like, not ever.
And in a sport where players can be so superstitious they won't wash their socks...a jersey with some World Series mojo on it may be priceless.
"It definitely has a few stains on it here and there," Dreckman said.
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He can prove that it's never been washed, almost as if he planned it: the jersey still has the original sales tag hanging from the collar. Dreckman never removed it.
"That's how I know this bad boy's never been washed," he said.
The story of Mike Dreckman and the unwashed jersey quickly spread across social media. He was called a legend. Diamondbacks fans shared the photo, especially after the team beat the Phillies to advance to the World Series. Dreckman was there to watch the whole thing.
But one thing he didn't watch, was his own fame. He couldn't. Mike Dreckman doesn't have any social media accounts.
"A friend of mine Mark he said, man, you gotta start some kind of social media for this because this is insane," Dreckman said.
Now, Dreckman said he has a fledgling Instagram account. But more importantly, he has tickets to games 3 and 4 of the World Series at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Where he's hoping that magical, unwashed throwback jersey from a championship season has a little more magic left in it.